Wallet attachment



Dec. 21, 1954 G. w. MILLHUFF 2,697,466

WALLET ATTACHMENT Filed Dec. 8, 1952 9 Geoyg WMiZZhu ff INVENTOR United States Patent WALLET ATTACHMENT George W.'Millhutf, Tampa-Fla. Application December 8,1952, seriai'Nois'z tfim 2 Claims. '(Cl. mil-=39) This invention relates to a novel rigid hinge member for detachably and hingedly supporting 'a plurality of transparent card receiving envelopesin a Wallet between the folded halves of the wallet when closed and in an exposed position when thewallet is open so that the indicia on the cards maybe readily read. g

More particularly, it is an "aim of'the present invention to provide a hinged card holder attachment which is so constructed that the cardv holding transparent, en velopes may be readily removed and replaced when they have become so discolored through age and use that indicia on cards contained therein may not be read through the envelope walls.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a rigid lightweight hinge for supporting the transparent envelopes and from which said envelopes may be readily removed and replaced, and which hinge may be additionally utilized for containing suitable indicia, as for example indicia identifying the owner of the wallet and other information commonly found in wallets pertinent to the owner and of value to others in the event that the owner of the wallet meets with an accident resulting in serious injury or if taken seriously ill.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rigid supporting hinge attachment for transparent card receiving wallet envelopes which will additionally function to stiifen a wallet in which it is contained and minimize bending of the wallet resulting after a wallet has been carried in the pocket for a considerable period of time.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is an extended view showing the rigid hinge member attached to a plurality of transparent card receiving envelopes;

Figure 2 is an edge elevational view, partly in section including a fragmentary showing of a wallet and illustrating the parts as shown in Figure 1 as these parts appear when applied to a wallet;

Figure 3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 44 of Figure l, and

Figure 5 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 55 of Figure 3.

It has been customary to provide a group of transparent envelopes which are supported either permanently or detachably between the folds of a wallet and which envelopes are adapted to contain various cards including vehicle drivers license, vehicle registration card and various other cards, the indicia of which may be read through the transparent wall or walls of the envelope. However, such envelopes often become discolored through use and lose their transparent utility and in many cases the envelopes are not detachable from the wallet and therefore not re lace ble. In other forms where the envelopes are detachable. such envelopes are supported by plastic mounting hinges which rapidly wear out and break off thus destroying the utility of the envelopes.

The present invention provides a wallet attachment whereby a plurality of transparent card supporting envelopes may be detachably mounted in a pocketbook by means of a rigid hinge member from which the en- 2,697,466 Patented Dec. -21 1954 2 velop'es maybe readily removed and replaced'by anew set of envelopes after an original -set has lfirbriie digcolored and lost its transparencya'nd utility. Said 'hbvel envelope attachment which comprises the invention is illustrated in Figures ,1 and 2 :anddes'ignated generally '7 and includes a plurality of transparent "indicia "bearing card containing envelopes8 which are preferably formed of a plastic such as Celluloid'andwhich envelopes shave open outer'ends or edges 9 through which indicia bearing cardsor the like, not shown, may be inserted into or removed from said envelopes, in a conventional manner. The'envelopes '8 near their inner ends and adjacent their sid edges are provided "with registering openings 10 extehdingtl'irough the wallsfth'er'eof 'to recle" e=apai rof metal rings '11. The rings 1'1 alsoextend 't'lirough opeii ings 12'inreinforcing pieces 13, which reinforcin' pieces 13 may be'formed of leather or'any'dthe'r suitab e,"relativelystrong material. Two of saidreinforcing pieces 13 'a're carried by each ring 11 and engagejthe -outer sides'of the two outermostenvelopes 8tofassistfin p1" eventing the envelopes "8 from being torn between their openings 12'and the inner adjacent 'edg'esof saidenveiepes.

The wallet attachment 7 also includes 'a substantially rigid-plate 14 forming a hinge and which is preferably formed of aluminum 'o'r other lightweight "metal but which may be formed "of any other s'uitables'ub'stantially rigid material. One end of the plate 14 is provided with a recess 15 forming corresponding inwardly extending hooks or tapered prongs 16, the distal ends of which are spaced a substantial distance apart. One or both sides of the plate 14 may be suitably inscribed with indicia including the information previously mentioned pertinent to the owner including his or her name, address, blood type etc. The adjacent free ends of the hooks or prongs 16 are spaced apart a distance substantially less than the spacing between the rings 11 so that the envelopes 8 which normally assume a flat position as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 will retain said rings 11 in engagement with the prongs 16 and remote to the free ends of said prongs. The rings 11 loosely engage the prongs 16 so that the envelopes 8 may readily swing or pivot relatively to the plate 14 From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the plate 14 may be inserted into a pocket 17 of a wallet, a portion of which is illustrated at 18, and which pocket is of a conventional type which extends longitudinally of the wallet from one end thereof and which is open at its inner end and substantially intermediate of the ends of the wallet and on the inner side thereof. The plate 14 is of a width to fit relatively snug in the pocket 17 to be normally maintained by friction therein and so that the envelopes 8. each of which maycontain one or more cards, will be disposed between the folded halves of the wallet if the wallet 18 is closed and may be swung outwardly away from the wallet when the latter is disposed in an extended, open position, so that the indicia bearing cards, not shown, of any one of the envelopes 8 may be readily read through a wall or walls thereof. Should the envelopes 8 become disclored throu h use so that their transparency is diminished. by simply pressing inwardly on the two side edges of the group of envelopes 8 near their inner ends and pressing with the finger against one side of the envelo es midwav of the side ed es thereof, the group of envelopes 8 will be caused to flex longitudinally. as illustrated in dotted lines of Figure 4. for displacing the rings 11 toward one another suificiently to disengage said rings from the adiacent free ends of the hooks or prongs 16. By similarly bowing a new set of envelo es 8, the rings 11 thereof may be engaged over the adjacent free ends of the prongs 16 for readily attaching a new set of envelopes to the plate 14 and which may even be accomplished without removing the plate from the pocket 17.

It will thus be seen that a novel wallet attachment has been provided including a plate 14 which will last indefinitely and which may be readily attached to or (16' tached from a group of transparent or nontransoarent card containing envelopes for hingedly or swingably attaching the envelopes to the inner side of a wallet.

It will also be apparent that the rigid plate 14 will tend to prevent the wallet when in a normal folded or closed position from being bowed longitudinally or transversely and will thus assist in maintaining the original A I proper shape of the wallet.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

1 claim as my invention:

1. A card supporting wallet attachment comprising a group of normally flat card supporting envelopes, a pair of ring members attached to said envelopes in spaced apart relation to one another adjacent one end of the group of envelopes and having portions extending beyond said end of the envelope, a substantially rigid plate having a recessed end defining a pair of prongs extending toward one another and having free ends disposed in spaced apart relationship, said rings being supported spaced a greater distance apart by the envelopes than the spacing between the adjacent ends of said prongs, said rings engaging said prongs remote from their free ends for swingably supporting the envelopes relatively to the plate and relatively to one another, said plate being adapted to snugly engage a wallet pocket and with the prongs thereof disposed beyond an open end of the pocket for supporting the envelopes on the wallet, said envelopes being sufliciently flexible to be bowed longitudinally for displacing the rings toward one another for disengaging the rings from the prongs or for engaging the rings therewith.

2. The combination with a plurality of card receiving envelopes, of a pair of ring members attached to the envelopes and extending beyond inner ends thereof and supported by the envelopes in laterally spaced relationship relatively to one another, a rigid wallet pocket engaging hinge plate having laterally spaced substantially aligned prongs at one end thereof adapted to be disposed beyond an open end of a wallet pocket in which the plate is disposed, said prongs having adjacent ends spaced apart a distance less than the spacing between said rings, said rings loosely engaging said prongs remote from the adjacent free ends of the prongs for swingably mounting said envelopes on the plate, said envelopes being capable of being flexed longitudinally for displacing said rings toward one another for disengaging the rings from the prongs or for engaging the rings with the prongs, said envelopes normally assuming flat positions for maintaining the rings in engagement with the remote portions of the prongs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,561,891 Trussell Nov. 17, 1925 2,068,443 Bernasconi Jan. 19, 1937 2,382,556 Falls Aug. 14, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 255,615 Great Britain July 29, 1926 

